Wanderer's Apprentice: Clash
by UnseenRangerGal
Summary: Continuation of "Wanderer's Apprentice". Vontade is struggling to figure out right from wrong. Sylvia and Halt help him as he tries to take on the Wanderers and figure out the true meaning of their group.
1. First Try

**A/N: I see you found this story also. Nice job. There's a reason this stories called Clash . . . But that's for later ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wanderer's . . . Wait, no, I don't own ****_Ranger's_**** Apprentice. He he, I seriously almost typed Wanderer's Apprentice.**

Chapter 1

"Arrettez?" Vontade ventured as he pulled away from said person, "May I ride him now?" His eyes were pleading as he said this.

Arrettez almost seemed to smirk as he answered nochalantly "If you think that's a good idea, then go ahead."

Vontade looked excited as he climbed atop the horse. He felt like he forgot something, wasn't there something you were supposed to do before you climbed on a Wanderer horse? Oh well, he thought, too late for regrets now. The next thing he knew he was flat on his back, the wind knocked out of him. A ghost of a smile touched Arrettez's lips.

Vontade groaned and after he regained his breathe asked "What are his secret words?"

Arrettez answered "Run like the wind. . . I think." the last part threw Vontade off a bit.

"What do you mean you think?" Vontade asked uncertainly.

Arrettez shifted uncomfortably and said "Well . . . This is a Ranger horse, I overheard it was run like the wind . . . But I can't be too sure."

Vontade walked up to Puxão and whispered "Run like the wind" in her ear. Puxão nodded once and stood still, looking at Vontade expectantly. Vontade looked at Arrettez and climbed aboard. Puxão stood still, Vontade lightly tapped his heels against Puxão's flanks and the horse started immediatly. He urged Puxão faster and faster until the trees rushed past to fast to be easily discernible. When he realized how far he was he turned Puxão around and went back towards Arrettez.

When Vontade was back there was a wide grin on his face. "That was absolutely amazing," he breathed.

"Your first horse ride always is, I remember how mine was. You don't know what you were missing out on until you ride one," Arrettez announced. Then he added "You must have realized that it's almost time for dinner now." Vontade then realized just how hungry he was and nodded.

"Let's go inside," Vontade said, then thought for a second, "What are we having?"

"I don't know," Arrettez answered, "I'm going to teach you how to cook today while I make coffee." Then Arrettez walked inside and got the coffee pot out. "Let's begin." Vontade groaned, he had a feeling tonights dinner would be a burnt mess.

**A/N: Short chapter, sorry.**


	2. A Female Ranger!

**A/N: Sorry for not updating!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ranger's Apprentice!**

Chapter 2

Inside they were cooking when Arrettez thought he heard something from outside.

All of a sudden a girl with a drawn bow kicked down the door. She had dark brown hair with streaks of lighter browns and blacks, she had green eyes and was very slim. "My mentor is going to kill me," she muttered, "Kicking down doors and barging into a Wanderer cabin by myself. He always said I was hot headed" Then she remembered where she was and raised the bow while about to yell something, but it was too late. Arrettez was at her throat with his saxe knife.

"No!" Vontade yelled, "Don't hurt her!" The girls eyes widened in surprise at his words. _What's going on? _She thought. "Maybe she's an innocent!" he said, Sylvia lost all hope on those words. He wouldn't believe that when-.

Arrettez looked exasperated "If she were an innocent she wouldn't have drawn the bow," he said, "She also wouldn't have a bronze oakleaf," he announced as he pulled a gleaming oakleaf out of her cloak with his saxe knife.

"Not possible," Vontade breathed, "It can't be."

"I don't know about you but I'm telling Falcão," Arrettez said, "But first . . . I want to ask her a question. What is your name"

"Uh . . . I'm . . . Prata" The girl answered, cursing the fact that she faltered. It sounded like she didn't know her own name.

"Are you sure?" Arrettez asked, raising a cautioning eyebrow, "Or do you not remember your name, Silver?"

The girl stood up straight with her chin up and said "My name is Prata not Silver," She said this in a surprisingly strong voice, trying to add some kind of gallic accent to make that name seem plausible. She surprised everybody, even herself, though this did not show.

"That's a beautiful name," Vontade said absent mindedly, Arrettez glared at him and Vontade blushed, "I mean, why were you given that name?" trying to fix it, but still making himself sound stupid.

"It doesn't matter," Arrettez said, "She's going to meet Falcão now.

. . .

"A girl Ranger? Are you sure Arrettez? I don't have time for any of your guesses right now," Falcão chimed while frowning. Arrettez glared at him.

"Of course I'm sure," he answered, "Especially since she escaped from me on the way here."

"She did?!" Falcão said in utter disbelief. "How?!"

"Yes, she did. I have no idea at all," Arrettez answered. "Now we must figure out who her mentor is and why she was so special that she was chosen."

. . .

"Sylvia, what in the world were you thinking?" Halt asked "You could have been killed!"

Sylvia was crying now. Not because Halt was mad at her or that he was scolding her, she was used to that. It was because Star, her horse, had been stolen by the Wanderers and she wanted her back. Now it seemed like it would never happen.

"Halt, Star meant everything to me! I won't let her go," Sylvia said hotly "I even know who stole it. Vontade and Arrettez." Halt cursed at that.

"Then we both want to destroy Arrettez. So why don't we go get him," Halt smiled drily as he said this. Then he walked out the door to get Abelard.

"Wait Halt! What about me?! I don't have a horse!" Sylvia screamed while running outside.

Halt sighed and said "You know what. Why don't you stay?"

"No," she said hotly, "Fine, wait, can I ride on Abelard with you?" Halt just gave a nod.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	3. Wow, She's Beautiful

**A/N: Sorry this took so long, but chapters might take a while now a days.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ranger's Apprentice**

Chapter 3

"That girl was beautiful. Don't you agree Puxão?" Vontade said. He was very happy, Arrettez was giving him a day off and Vontade had decided to spend it in the forest.

"Oh stop mooning over her, she's a Ranger," Arrettez stated while striding out of the cabin to check on Vontade, "It's never been heard of for a Wanderer to like a Ranger."

Vontade blushed deeply. "H-how did you know?" then added "That's also because theres never been a girl Ranger!"

"Did you really think I wouldn't notice? 'That girl was beautiful. Don't you agree Puxão?' Really?" Arrettez said, completely ignoring the last part of Vontade's outburst.

"Come on Arrettez! Haven't you ever had a crush?" Vontade questioned, "You were a before kid right?"

"Yes, I had a crush, but she wasn't a Ranger," Arrettez said in his defense.

Vontade grumbled something and got on to his horse. Once he rode off into the forest Arrettez stepped back into the cabin.

. . .

"Vontade is leaving on Star!" Sylvia cried out in a harsh whisper, "Why aren't you stopping him?"

Halt held his finger to his lips, telling her to be quiet. Then he said "We can catch him in the forest, but first let's pay a visit to our old friend Arrettez." He then got up and walked towards the cabin casually as though actually visiting a "friend".

. . .

_Vontade never gets up this early when it's time for training, t_hought Arrettez, _he would rather waste his time in the forest. _At that thought Arrettez sighed. He remembered when he was just the same way, when he was as innocent as Vontade.

"Ah, reminiscing I see," Halt announced from the doorway, smirking in satisfaction when Arrettez jumped, but the smirk was hidden under his hood.

"That's none of your buisness," Arrettez countered, "You do that all the time."

"Oh I do? Are you sure?" Halt asked, raising an eyebrow, "Well tell me this, what is going on in that dastardly brain of yours?" **(A/N: Sorry he sounds OOC! I just thought this was fun)**

"That's none of your buisness, Ranger," hissed Arrettez, "and I'm no more dastardly than you, how dare you sneak into my cabin!" he snapped.

Halt gave a hollow laugh and retorted, "I was practically invited, you stole my apprentice's horse."

Arrettez looked surprised with his mouth in the shape of an "o". "Oh so she's your apprentice now is she? Well that's great to know," he said in a cold voice.

"Hm . . . I realize how annoyed people feel when they talk to me now," Halt said, and then he stepped towards Arrettez and drew his knives when Arrrettez tensed up.

"Don't fight!" Sylvia screamed, "Vontade is the one with Star, not Arrettez."

"I suppose you're right," Halt said while sheathing his knives. He then motioned for Sylvia to follow him and walked out the door. Arrettez felt shaken and just stared dumbly at the door, for the first and maybe the last time, he was paralyzed in fear.

. . .

Vontade was calmly riding through the forest. Breathing in the fresh air and looking at the beautiful scenery. He was the happiest he had ever remembered. Then, all of a sudden, another horse was blocking his path. He looked into the face of the rider, it was Halt. He fell off his horse and fainted.

"Sylvia, you know the only difference between Will and Vontade?" Halt inquired.

Sylvia shrugged and suggested "His hair is as dark as the night sky?"

"No, he faints all the time," Halt said. Sylvia giggled at this and Vontade woke up. He muttered something then noticed both of them. His eyes widened in shock and he backed away. "It's fine Vontade, you can trust us." Halt said. Sylvia almost balked at his tone of voice, it was so helpful and soothing . . . so . . . not Halt.

"No, I can't trust you," Vontade said halfheartedly glancing around in suspicion for more Rangers, "Why are you here?"

"Because of Star!" Sylvia said forcefully. Vontade looked confused and said, "Star?"

"Yes Star!" Sylvia screamed. Halt hushed her with a hand signal and continued "Star is Sylvia's horse, or better known to you, she is Puxão."

"Puxão is Sylvia's horse?" He seemed dazed as he said this. Then he blushed and said "Sorry, I didn't know. I'll miss her though." He sighed and handed her the rings, thinking maybe he could get out of this if he just played along.

"No, this doesn't seem right, you keep her," Puxão/Star seemed to be very uncomfortable as Sylvia announced this. Vontade's eyes lit up in happiness. Halt's face remained impasive, deadpan, and this confused Sylvia, leading her to ask "Halt, you don't seem surprised, why is that?"

"It's just that I knew you would let him keep Star, or more correctly now, Puxão. He's 7 years younger than you and you can't help being sorry for him," Halt stated this in such a calm manner that they felt stupid for not realizing it.

"Can I really keep her?" Vontade ventured, Sylvia just gave a nod. Vontade then went and added "What are you going to do with me?"

"Nothing yet," someone growled. The voice wasn't of Arrettez's, nor was it Galo's. Who could it be?

**A/N: CLIFFHANGER!**


	4. Criss-Cross Loss

**A/N: I apologize for not updating? I'm not sure how many people read this still . . . But sorry for not updating! Hope you enjoy the chapter :)**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Ranger's Apprentice, wouldn't someone else be writing this story then? Or wouldn't this be a published book?**

Chapter 4

The voice, it turned out, belonged to Falcão, our "beloved" leader of the Wanderers. How come the Wanderers always seemed to be there at the worst of times?

Vontade was joyed at seeing him, but Halt and Sylvia sure weren't. "Why is there always one of you to stop us?" Halt wondered aloud, mostly to hopefully distract Falcão.

"Because we do a better job of protecting our apprentices than you so believed," Falcão retorted, "Now back away from Vontade, he did nothing to hurt you. Just leave him alone." Halt's eyes flared _seems you're the one hurting him_ but he backed away. Falcão's tone of voice was so patronizing. Halt sneered as he thought this, he bet his voice was also so. Halt gestured at Sylvia to follow and left.

"I don't think that Wanderers are such good guys after all!" Vontade screamed after the two Rangers left. "They didn't do anything to me! We were just talking!"

"Oh, tell the truth, you were scared out of your wits," Falcão said while frowning, they had lost more than one apprentice this way. Of course, most still stayed and denied the fact Rangers never hurt them or made the first move unless provoked.

"Oh really?! Well, Halt is much nicer than any of you! He actually cares for his apprentices!" Vontade yelled. Little did he know, Arrettez was just hiding in the trees, he had come back to check on Vontade and was just about to walk into the clearing, but when he heard this a tear slid down Arrettez's cheek unbidden and unchecked. Arrettez knew that he had not been Vontade's favorite, not even close, but this? He sighed and trudged back to the cabin, heartbroken. But Vontade didn't go back, he jumped up on Puxão and rode away fast and hard, suddenly overcome with emotion. Falcão decided it was best to leave him alone for a while. He would go check on Arrettez, they were not the best of friends but they had the strongest relationship in the whole corps, but that didn't really mean much.

. . .

"Arrettez, what's wrong?" Falcão asked awkwardly, he knew that Arrettez wouldn't be comfortable sharing his feelings. But he was wrong, in a way.

"I saw what happened," Arrettez whispered, nothing else needed to be said. Even Falcão had never seen him like this, he had never felt this way either, because, well, he never had a kind of child in his life. No younger brother, no apprentice, and definately no son. Falcão for once, felt hopeless. The Wanderers were falling apart from the inside out, slowly and agonizingly. This would not do. Then Arrettez's head snapped up, "Where is he?" he demanded, then saw the look on Falcão's face. "You left him in the forest?!" he hissed, alarm evident in his voice. "Then we must find him."

. . .

But it was too late, Halt would never just leave without a fight. No, he had stayed, now, he had Vontade. Puxao twitched his ears, and Vontade patted him reassurringly. he looked aorund for whoever Puxao was reacting to, and saw nothing. Probably a mistake on his horse's part, of course, he only thought this because he had no idea about the training of a Wanderer horse, or more correctly, a Ranger horse.

Then, Halt stepped out from behind a tree. "Hello again," he said. Vontade looked up, startled. "I - uh," he managed then asked "Did you hear what I said?". Luckily, he didn't faint this time.

**A/N: Thanks for sticking with the story! Also, I would like to know, did I drop a whole bunch of followers by tossing in a female Ranger, or seperating this story into two stories? Review?**


	5. Captured

**A/N: Hi everybody! So I made a small mistake... And skipped this chapter... Yeah, but not it's uploaded! No problems... Right?**

**Disclaimer: The Wanderer's are my creation and so is Sylvia, but not the rest of them.**

Chapter 5

"Yes, in fact, I did. I'm very glad that you think so," Halt intoned, his face deadpan.

"I-I di-didn't mean any of it," Vontade said weakly his eyes flicked back and forth between Halt and Sylvia.

Halt raised his eyebrow and Vontade knew he didn't believe him. Vontade managed to look Halt in the eye, but he was unable to stop himself from shuddering at the thought that Halt could kill him any second.

_Would he faint? _Thought Halt,_ I hope not. If he does one more time I'm not sure I'll ever catch him awake._

In fact, Vontade did not faint. He bravely said "Well, what do you want from me? Surely not Puxão, I mean, Star."

"Of course not, she's definately yours now," Sylvia intoned. Vontade looked at her then asked "Well, what do you want?"

"I want you to come with me," Halt said. Vontade shook his head, no. Then started running "Bad idea," chided Halt

Halt grabbed Vontade by the shoulder and spun him around, "Get on your horse, now." Vontade gulped, maybe it was a good idea to do so . . .

. . .

Vontade yawned, they were finally at Halt's cabin, it had taken forever! Halt looked back at him _He's still so young to be plunged into the reality of being a Wanderer. _Halt thought, he truly felt sorry for him, this didn't show though. Can't have every Ranger thinking that he had gone soft. Vontade shivered, it was very cold. Sylvia brought her horse, Midnight, up to his and told him to dismount.

"What are you going to do now?" Vontade asked nervously.

"Nothing yet, in the morning though, I'll have a few questions," Halt said.** (A/N: is it just me or are the characters horribly out of character?)** Vontade sighed, Rangers were so hard to understand, but then again, what could he do? He looked longingly at the forest.

"Don't even think about escaping, anyway, this will help you," Halt declared. Vontade doubted it, he even came close to rolling his eyes, but he thought better of it.

**A/N: Can I safely finish off this chapter? Or are you all going to try and murder me? Whatever.**


	6. Terrible Dream

**Disclaimer: RIGHTS ARE ALL MINE! MWAHAHAHA! Okay, disregard that, I do not, I repeat, do not own Ranger's Apprentice.**

Chapter 6

"Puxão, why are you not coming?" Vontade asked while looking strangely at Puxão. Puxão was stubornly digging his hoofs into the ground and snorting. "Oh, come on, we have to go before Arrettez gets here!" Vontade heard a crunch behind him. He pulled out his bow and walked towards the sound.

All of a sudden a loud neigh came from behind him. He whirled around; behind him was a shadowed figure with Puxão on the ground in front him. The man turned and ran into the forest. Vontade went up to Puxão, could he be d-de-dead?

. . .

"NO!" Vontade screamed, jerking awake. He was a bit disoriented and hadn't even realized he had fallen asleep.

"Is something wrong?" a voice asked, it didn't sound like anyone he knew . . .

"No, I just, had a bad dream," Vontade said, turning to look at the man sitting shadowed in the corner, then ventured "Who are you?"

The other person laughed lightly and answered "Halt called me over, and I share a name with you. Can you figure it out yourself?"

"You-You're Will! The person I was named after!" Vontade stammered, not sure whether he should be in awe or utterly terrified, "But why are you here?"

"Halt wants Sylvia to sleep, and he needed someone to 'guard' you. I don't see the problem here though," Will said, "Are you a trouble maker?" he asked, cocking his head slightly with an eyebrow raise.

"No! Of course not! Why would you ask that?" Vontade asked, scared out of his wits now that Will thought he might be a trouble maker.

"I'm just playing with you. Calm down. Everything will be all right," Will assured, making a small gesture with his hand for Vontade to rest easy. He looked like he was trying to convince himself, too, though. About the "Everything will be all right" part.

"I see you're getting along well, but would you please keep it down?" Sylvia asked with a slight shake of her head, she didn't notice that Halt stood right behind her.

"Sylvia, now's really not the time, but I agree, I thought we were _sleeping_," Halt said in a voice that did not show any of his emotion. Vontade thought a smile quirked at Halt's lips, but it was too dark to tell. Probably just a trick of the light.

"Yes, Halt," Will answered, rolling his eyes slightly. Either Halt didn't notice or he didn't want to address it.

Everybody then went back to sleep. Except Vontade, and possibly Will, Vontade couldn't be too sure.

Vontade lay tossing and turning. No one would kill Puxão like that. Would they? _Not even a Wanderer would do that_, Vontade thought and finally drifted back into a dreamless sleep.

**A/N: Yup, another chapter finished. Yes, it was short and I'm sorry for that, but at least I updated :) Review?**


	7. It's All True

**A/N: Okay, first of all, I'm going to apologize to all of you who really loved Puxão. I tried to think of something else, but I thought this best for the story. Enjoy the chapter?**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing in Ranger's Apprentice.**

Chapter 7

The next morning Vontade's eyes were red and he was still extremely tired. Will looked at him worriedly as Vontade started to sob uncontrollably.

Will was about to ask Vontade what was wrong when Vontade cried out in despair "Puxão died every single time! I couldn't do anything!"

"They were all just dreams Vontade; nothing will go wrong," Will reassured.

"Having the same exact dream at least 5 times doesn't help," Vontade said bitterly, "I'm not sure it won't happen. I really wish I knew who it was that killed him each time. Or at least that is wasn't real," Vontade sobbed the last part. Will regretted that he couldn't help anymore than to just be there.

Halt walked in, not bothering to hide as he noticed that Vontade was upset. All of a sudden Vontade bounced to his feet and ran outside, it was raining, but it didn't matter. **(A/N: Wait, didn't I say the season was fall? I don't remember, sorry if this is messed up)**

Vontade's hair was soon plastered to his head as he looked on at the body of his dead friend.

"Puxão!" he cried "NO!" this time, it wasn't a dream.

His tears were washed away by the rain as he cried, but he noticed one thing. A dark shadow with it's hood pulled back and rain washing down his face.

"Arrettez," Vontade muttered under his breathe. To Arrettez he screamed bloody murder "YOU _LYING, _CHEATING TERRIBLE EXCUSE FOR A HUMAN! Why did you do this?! Are you so cold hearted that you can't bear to see me happy for once in my life?!"

Arrettez didn't answer, but instead ran into the forest, his cloak streaming behind him.

. . .

Arrettez couldn't believe he had done it. He tried to convince himself that is was to get rid of the attachment between him and the Rangers, but he couldn't. He knew that this was a terrible idea in the first place. No one would try to comfort him either. He was a sort of outcast for "ruining" a potential Wanderer.

Arrettez stared at the wall; thinking about everything that had gone wrong in so little time.

. . .

Halt looked at Vontade who had been kneeling on the ground for about 15 minutes now.

"You have to come in Vontade. You'll catch a cold," Halt gently told him.

"I don't care," Vontade sniffed. "Puxão's dead. Nothing matters anymore. Just leave me alone." he turned his head away and wouldn't look anyone in the eye.

Halt nodded slowly and brought Will inside the house with him. Vontade just stared into the forest, unbelieving.

**A/N: So much sadness, but here's the turning point for Vontade's life. Sorry it's so short.**


	8. Blame and Revenge Talk

**Disclaimer: HELLO! I totally do not own Ranger's Apprentice... :)**

Chapter 8

When Halt finally coaxed Vontade back into the house. Tears were glistening in Sylvia's eyes. It was her horse for longer after all, but she muttered "Now's not the time to wallow in dispair. Now's we must avenge Star!"

"Sylvia, now's not the time to go rushing out on tangents either," Halt told Sylvia.

"But, but what about Puxão?" Vontade asked, slightly calmed down now.

"You both haven't eaten for a while, and aren't in a state of mind to think on that," Halt told them. Sylvia almost rolled her eyes at that, but thought better of it.

"I thought we were to young to think. . . But let's eat then," Sylvia said, smiling sadly, but still trying to make light of things.

. . .

"That was the worst move ever Arrettez! I thought you were smarter than that!" Falcão yelled at Arrettez.

"Now's not the time to be taking it out on me. Why don't you leave me alone while I figure out my _own _mistakes?" Arrettez snapped angrily

"You _also _shouldn't talk to your commanding leader like that!" Falcão told Arrettez.

"We're both commanding leaders, we created this group," Arrettez growled back, correcting Falcão.

"Well . . . Crowley is the leader of the Rangers and you chose to be called Arrettez, not Falcão," Falcão faltered, knowing it was a terrible argument after it left his mouth.

"We are _not_ the Ranger corps! I never want to be like those crazy do-gooders," Arrettez muttered the last part.** (A/N: Crazy do-gooders?! Wow, I sure came up with a strange way to put it, but that's just what they think, right?)**

"I guess you're right, but why?" Falcão's eyes were pained now.

"Why'd I kill the horse? Vontade loved _it_ more than me, and it seemed to slide him closer to the Rangers," Arrettez said.

"It would have worked if Vontade didn't see you," Falcão said, then offered "You're idea was in the right place. Kind of."

"Maybe it wasn't," Arrettez said, shaking his head, he then stepped out of Falcão's cabin. Would he ever take back his place in the Wanderer's society? For now, he had handed in his silver maple leaf **(A/N: Nobodies got a problem with it being a maple leaf... _right?!_)**.

. . .

Vontade was sipping coffee while chatting with the other two. Coming up with their best course of action. They all agreed that vendeta **(A/N: That does mean revenge right?)** was not the way to go. Vontade vowed that he would get his revenge someday though. He wouldn't kill Maza though, nobody deserved to have there best friend taken away, even Arrettez.

"I say if we get Galo on our side we're golden," Sylvia said, now tossing in ideas left and right as her brain went into overdrive.

"Not really. Galo isn't the founder," Halt pointed out.

"Hm . . . But he is closer to the age of most of the Wanderers, and basically all Wanderers were lied to. If we can convince one that they were lied to, we can convince all," Sylvia answered.

"Yes, but we have reason to believe that Galo already knows they were lied to," Halt said in a gruff voice, "And he doesn't care."

"Darn," Sylvia said.

"How about another boy like me?" Vontade asked.

"Don't you remember how hard it was for you? I don't want to go through that again," Sylvia said, rolling her eyes. Vontade just sighed, "Er, and of course we don't want someone else to go through all that. Sorry again about your horse."

"Sylvia's right. One thing here though is don't take down Falcão, it'll spark total rebellion against us. Falcão can put on a good act, and then we'll have ruined any chances of taking down the Wanderers," Halt said. Sylvia and Vontade nodded vigorously in response, eager to please in both cases.

"Why don't we sleep on it?" Sylvia suggested.

"I thought you'd never say that!" Vontade said, then both he and Sylvia laughed.

**A/N: This is the last chapter that has been pre-prepared! Chapters may now take a while and not be edited as well. Thanks for understanding!**


	9. Galo and Treason

**Disclaimer: I don't own RA**

Chapter 9

Vontade woke up bright and early in the morning. His eyes snapped open and he immediately jumped out of bed. He suddenly remembered that Halt and Sylvia might still be asleep and tried to land as quietly as possible. No luck. Vontade hadn't realized there had been a table next to the bed... And a lamp on top of the aforementioned table.

A resounding crash was heard throughout the whole house and Sylvia came sliding into the doorway.

"What happened?!" Sylvia asked, frantic.

"Uh... I may or may not have accidentally broken a lamp?" Vontade said.

Sylvia raised an eyebrow, "I see. Are you implying the lamp may or may not have jumped off the table on it's own?"

"I'm gonna go with no...?"

"Of course," Sylvia answered.

"Do you have any new ideas for what to do about the Wanderers?" Vontade asked, smoothly driving the conversation away from the lamp, "Oh, and how come Halt didn't run over here also?"

"He went out for an earlier patrol of the fief today, and no, I haven't come up with anything. Halt might have though," Sylvia shrugged.

. . .

Halt came in about an hour later to see Vontade and Sylvia each holding a cup of coffee in their hands. Vontade as grimacing at the flavor he had never gotten used to and Sylvia was attempting to hold back a giggle.

"I see you guys had an enjoyable time," Halt said, pulling back his cowl and starting to take off his cloak

"Oh, yeah," Sylvia answered, beaming, then immediately got serious as she said, "Have you come up with any ways to defeat the Wanderers yet Halt?"

"Yes, in fact, I have, but it's not the best. What I think is that it is indeed best to get Galo," Sylvia looked to be about to say something about this, but Halt raised a hand to shush her, "He may or may not know about what the Wanderers, but either way, he doesn't seem like the kind of person to be very loyal to one side. Maybe he'll decide to help us, or he may just be another annoying kid. I don't think Crowley will give us permission, so if that troubles you I recommend you tell me now."

Both Vontade and Sylvia looked at each other and then shrugged "Works for us," Sylvia chirped.

"Okay, but we still have to ask him before we try anything anyway," Halt pointed out.

. . .

"Of course you can go," Crowley, surprisingly, gave his assent in a nonchalant manner, "But I'd like to be informed of everything you do," he added pointedly, looking at Halt in particular.

"Of course," Halt answered, Crowley just raised an eyebrow at this unneeded comment.

"And be more careful, I don't need more reports than I have of you or your apprentices getting into various kind of trouble and then coming back hurt," Crowley said, Halt just nodded back.

**A/N: I wrote this chapter on an iPad, so it's formatting may be weird. I'll fix it when I can get on a computer :) Okay, it's formatting should be fixed, feel free to tell me if I missed something.**


	10. A Strange Encounter

**Disclaimer: I don't own RA.**

Chapter 10

Halt, Vontade, and Sylvia left Crowley's cabin. The sun was already starting to set.

"We should best be heading home," Sylvia commented, watching the sky turn slowly from light blue slowly to a light orange.

"Oh... Right," Vontade agreed, also glancing up.

"Come on! We don't have all day!" Sylvia called, already up on her borrowed horse. Vontade also mounted his horse, but slight less gracefully.

"Race you home!" Sylvia laughed, while spurring her horse into action.

"Hey! No fair! You got a head start!" Vontade yelled after her already disappearing figure as it quickly maneuvered the forest. Halt stifled a smile as he watched the two race through the forest. Vontade always seemingly two steps ahead and Sylvia's hair flying in the wind as she gracefully guided her horse through the forest.

She suddenly screeched to a halt and Vontade's horse was barely able to stop a huge collision.

Vontade brought his horse up next to Sylvia's and asked "Why the sudden stop? We could of both been stomped to death!"

Sylvia turned and help up a finger to her lip, trying to quiet him. Her eyes flared up in annoyance, "Vontade, there are people ahead, and not friendly people if it's who I think it is," she nodded her head in the general direction their path to the cabin. Vontade almost stopped breathing.

"Which one?" Vontade asked, knowing Sylvia would understand.

She shook her head, "Not sure, but I saw a flash of silver, so it's not an apprentice."

"Couldn't it be another Ranger"

"Not likely, why would a Ranger go into a different fief that already has a Ranger at this time of day? Or even night now, and if it is, then something bad must have happened," she whispered back.

"Oh..." Vontade was silenced.

They heard Halt's horse coming up behind them and turned around "So Halt-" Vontade began as he turned around to look at who he thought was Halt, but he didn't quite seem right...

"I'm sorry, but I'm not Halt," the voice of a person much younger than Halt piped up.

"Well then who are you?" Sylvia asked.

The person looked around slightly nervously, "Um, no time to explain now, could you please take me to your cabin?"

Vontade turned to look at Sylvia, Sylvia just shrugged, unsure what to do.

"Well... I guess we would have to ask Halt first, it's technically his cabin," Sylvia slowly said.

"Right, um... How far is he?" the stranger asked.

"Not sure, we ran pretty far ahead," Vontade muttered.

"Did someone ask for me?" Halt asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"Probably. Are you Halt?" the stranger inquired, looking up at Halt warily.

"Last time I checked, why?"

"I was wondering if I could stay at your place for a while, I don't have a place of my own at the moment and I suspect the Wanderers are after me," for a person the Wanderers were after, this person was surprisingly calm.

Halt looked thoughtful, "It's a bit late right now and I don't think I can even turn you down. Fine, but only if you keep up. It's not my fault if you get lost in the forest."

"I'll be fine, trust me, just lead the way," the stranger replied.

Halt, Sylvia, and Vontade all spurred their horses into action, "Come on, we have to make up for lost time!" Sylvia exclaimed, starting off at a fast pace.

"Oh, uh, right!" Vontade agreed, following after her.

"Well this sure wasn't a boring night," Halt commented dryly under his breathe.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter :) I apologize for this being so late and please review!**

**I'd also like to announce that I now have a tumblr where you can ask the characters questions! Anonymously, too, so you don't need an account. The link is ask - the - wanderers. tumblr without the spaces :)**


	11. True Identity Revealed

**A/N: SORRY AGAIN FOR SLOW UPDATE! And caps, sorry about that, too, but please enjoy this chapter. Yeah, it's kind of short.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RA. Neither does Sylvia... Or Vontade... Or anybody else in this story :/**

Chapter 11

By the time the odd group of four had reached the cabin it was already very late. The cabin wasn't made to accommodate so many people.

"Oh, I didn't think this would happen," Vontade mumbled.

"You're too young to think," Halt answered.

"I can sleep on the floor..." Sylvia piped up.

"No, it's fine, no need to make room for me, I just need a roof over my head. I have got my cloak after all," the stranger answered.

"Which brings me back to this point, who are you? No regular person is chased by Wanderers or wears that type of cloak," Sylvia inquired.

"I'm not a regular person if you haven't noticed," the strange snorted. His personality seemed to have taken a complete 180 degree turn from what it was before and Sylvia rolled her eyes.

"Okay, be glad you're aloud to sleep here, we could decide to toss you out any point," Sylvia mentioned slyly, but with a slightly threatening undertone, "and take off your cloak already! We're going to find out who you are one way or another!"

"Fine," the strange said as he threw back his cowl.

"Galo?!" Vontade gasped, "What's going on?"

"Galo? Aren't you a Wanderer yourself? Why should they be after you?" Sylvia immediately started interrogating him as she smoothly slid a throwing knife out of her cloak.

Her cloak was a bit special to say the least. It doubled as a dress and had different areas in which she occasionally hid knives or other weapons; sometimes even rocks made their way into her pockets. It had been sewn by hand by Sylvia in order to do just this and now it had finally come in handy.

Galo didn't notice her draw the knife, but he did notice a slight movement on her part, and it didn't seem like just fidgeting. Galo smirked and asked "And what are you up to little girl?"

"Little girl!" Sylvia said indignantly, "and what do you mean 'what are you up to'? That's the question we should be asking _you_!"

"Sylvia, calm down," Halt

"Well, if you really _need_ to hear the story, I'm willing to tell you. Mainly because I need somewhere to stay and I have nothing better to do," the last little bit of the sentence Galo uttered was a bit more condensing and sarcastic.

Sylvia just glared at Galo, "Fine, tell us the story."

"You may want to sit down, I'm not sure how long this will be," Galo answered.

"Oh... I can go make coffee?" Vontade offered.

"Sounds delightful," Sylvia smiled at him and Vontade quickly scurried off.

"Okay, then let's begin," Galo gracefully walked over to a chair and sat down.

**A/N: Slight cliffhanger. Feel free to nag me if I take more than a month :P Also, reviews and PMs seriously motivate me to continue the story :) Not that I'm not motivated... but it becomes slightly faster when I feel supported :)**


	12. A Few Truths Dragged Out

**A/N: HI! It's a fast update! Amazing isn't it?**

**Disclaimer: MINE! MINE! MINE! Okay, yeah, no. Not mine.**

Chapter 12

"This whole Wanderers thing started about seven years ago, as you know," Galo began.

"Can't believe it's seriously only been seven years," Halt muttered.

"That's still about half my age!" Sylvia stated.

"Listen, do you want to hear this story or not?" Galo sighed.

Sylvia paused for a moment, "Okay, go on." Vontade walked in with three cups of coffee balanced precariously between his two arms. Everybody took a cup, except Vontade that is-he still didn't exactly like the taste of bitter coffee.

"It was just a conversation that Falcão, Arrettez and I were having..."

_~Flashback~_

_"Come on! You have to be able to climb higher than that Jasper! Or are you afraid of heights?" Alex (Arrettez) called up at me. We were both around 18 at the time, and he had dared me to climb the tallest tree in the foresT as high as I could climb. I couldn't lose my honor and not accept, so we went and found the tallest tree we could._

_"Of course not! Why don't you come up then Alex?" I called, laughing, back down at him._

_As Alex shimmied his way up the tree I saw Farrell (Falcão) running in this direction from a distance._

_"Farrell! What's wrong?" I called down at him as he drew closer to the tree. I tried to wave down at him and almost fell when I let go. I quickly placed my hands back in a firm grip around the tree. He looked up in surprise at me._

_"Oh, it's you two, I was just walking through the forest when a Ranger snuck up behind me and asked me what I was doing in the forest. I told him it was none of his business, but I'm sure he followed me for a good five minutes after, so I ran," Farrell told Alex and me._

_"You ran from a_ Ranger_?!" I squeaked._

_"Oh, come on, their not that amazing," Farrell answered, crossing his arms._

_Alex looked between the both of us, "Farrell is right, and I think we can prove it, too."_

_My eyes widened in horror "And what might you be planning?!"_

_"Why don't we create our own group and beat those Rangers!" Alex exclaimed._

_"Are you crazy?"_

_"Is something wrong Jasper?" Alex raised an eyebrow, an act that annoyed me at the time._

_"Um, no, definitely not. I'm in as long as this doesn't go too far," I answered._

_"Great!" Alex put his hand out palm facing down. I sighed then placed mine on, too, Farrell also did, "Then it's settled! What shall we call our group?"_

_"Stalkers?" was the first thing that came out of my mouth. I immediately regretted it._

_"Only you would think of that," Alex rolled his eyes and snickered. In my defense I wasn't thinking correctly after the agreement we had just made on a crazy whim!_

_"What about Wanderers?" I amended, "we are going to be wandering around causing all kinds of mischief that will make the Ranger's jobs harder... Right?"_

_"Sounds about right," Farrell commented._

_"Then it's settled, we will be known as the Wanderers!" Alex announced, "Oh, but we should change our names or else word will get to our parents..." Alex left the sentence hanging._

_"I know right, and they have finally stopped nagging me about everything and left me to my own devices. I even have my own cottage," Farrell mumbled._

_"Why don't we just take names in Gaelic that are similar to the various Ranger names?" I suggested._

_"Like..." Alex prompted._

_"You could be Arretez, which is Gaelic for 'Halt'" I said, "Crowley sounds kind of like crow... but I personally think falcons are much cooler, so you could be Falcão, Farrell."_

_"Sounds great!" Farrell, or rather Falcão, said, a wide grin across his face, "but what about yours? And where in Arulean did you possibly learn Gaelic?"_

_I thought for a moment, "Well... For lack of a better name, what about Galo? It's kind of similar to Gilan... I don't know how else to match the two names," I said, shaking my head, "Oh, and to answer your other question, my mother is Gaelic. I thought you would know that!"_

_"Good enough Ja- I mean, Galo," Falcão grinned, using my "new name" for the first time. He ignored my comment on how I knew Gaelic._

_"Don't we need a few more Wanderers though," I suggested, "I mean, sure two is company and three is a crowd, but three's kind of a small crowd don't you think?"_

_"I don't know..." Arrettez answered, "this'll do for now though."_

_"Okay..."_

_~End Flashback~_

"How did things end up like this?!" Sylvia practically screamed at Galo, "And that doesn't explain _everything_."

"I'm not done yet! I told you it's a long story," Galo answered.

"So... Shall we start calling you Jasper then?" Vontade snickered, trying to lighted the mood. This did indeed make Sylvia smile, Halt almost seemed to also, but probably not.

"Um..." Galo looked unsure for once since he stepped in the door of the cabin, "I'm not sure..."

**A/N: I want you all to vote on whether he shall be referred to as Galo or Jasper by our friends Sylvia, Halt, and Vontade! If I get no comments... then his name shall continue being Galo :) (Galo is Galician for rooster in case you're wondering. Sadly I don't remember my reasoning for naming him this. Maybe I spelled it incorrectly?)**


	13. Theif's Training

**A/N: So the vote was that Galo's name would continue being Galo! Makes sense after all :P I apologize for the long wait, please forgive me? Also, I didn't really edit this one, so... there might be some run on sentences and things. Hopefully it doesn't affect your enjoyment!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ranger's Apprentice yadda yadda yadda etc etc**

Chapter 13

"I'd prefer you don't call me Jasper. It's been a while and I won't get used to it very easily again," Galo answered.

"Oh, okay then..." Vontade said awkwardly. There was a long silence before Galo decided he should continue talking.

"Would you like me to continue the story?" Galo asked, an eyebrow raised slightly.

"Of course! And I thought that raised eyebrows annoyed you!" Sylvia snickered.

"Not when I can't see it," Galo snipped and laughed as Sylvia pretended to pout.

"Well can we hurry this up? I still want sleep," Sylvia said while rolling her eyes.

"A bit late for that," Galo answered, pointing outside where the blackness was already starting to give way to a darker blue.

Sylvia groaned, "Okay, whatever, but we haven't got all day."

"We kind of do," Vontade pointed out, "'Today' just started technically." Sylvia glared at Vontade as though telling him to shut up. "Um... Right, we haven't got all day," Vontade quickly amended.

"Just continue Galo. No need to pay attention to the two_ apprentices_," Halt said, putting slightly more emphasis on the word "apprentices".

_~Flashback~_

**_About a week later..._**

_"So... what exactly are we going to do?" ____Falcão asked while he was leaning back on a tree, from my angle it looked like he was going to fall over _any___ second. Maybe because he was._

___"I don't know; we can't do much yet. No matter how good we think we are, you do realize the Rangers are still pret- no very good at archery and well... just not making a persons life comfortable in general," I proffered proffered._

___"You're right... We need to train also!" Arretez said._

___Falcão groaned and leaned back a bit too much; he had been leaning on the tree at quite a large angle and it was a miracle he hadn't fallen already, but he fell now, "Ow," he mumbled, "Nobody told me there would be work involved in this."_

___"That was kind of implied," I snickered._

___"Okay, okay, I get the idea. Let's get... 'training'," ____Falcão_ shuddered.

___"And one of us should go find more people who don't like the Rangers," Arrettez chipped in._

___"I think most of them are too afriad of the Rangers," I said, "And anyway, if one of us goes of to do that there are only two of us left. Not what I'd call a rebellion team of my choice."_

___"I'll go!" ____Falcão yelled, and then quickly ran off._

_______"Lazy..." I muttered, "but he's pretty good at talking to people."_

_______"Right, let's get this started!" Arrettez fist pumped and jumped around._

_______"Hm... One problem, we don't have weaponry," I added._

_______"Oohhh, right, we can go steal some from the Rangers for now," Arrettez put together a hasty solution._

_______"Okay, you go do that while I 'supervise' from that tree of there. Mkay?" I asked jokingly._

_______"No, you're coming with me!" Arrettez told me bossily._

_______~Flashback Cut Off~_

"Wait a moment, were you the ones who tried to take my knives?" Halt asked accusingly.

"Heh, heh, about that..." Galo said, nervously, "Uh, yeah, kind of."

Halt sighed "Well then, go on now."

"Aye aye captain"

_~Back to Flashback~_

_"Is it a good idea to do this without any training whatsoever? Could you at least put a little more thought than 'Get in. Take whatever weapons you see. Get out.'," I grumbled._

_"Well I don't see you coming up with ideas!" Arrettez growled._

_"Right, okay, then let's do step one first 'get in' and how do you say we go about doing that? Just use the front door?"_

_"Sure, why not?"_

_"Whatever, let's just go in," I sighed then crawled through the shadows towards the cabin. Arrettez and I managed to make it to the front door, inside, and even managed to get close to the Ranger's cloak, but Arrettez got a little too excited and tripped._

_"Uh-oh," Arrettez whispered, then we heard the Ranger's footsteps._

_"RUN!" I screamed, then ran out of the cabin as fast as I could and as far into the woods as I could._

_~End Flashback~_

"In the end we self-taught ourselves to make weapons," Galo said.

"And what did all this have to do with anything?" Sylvia asked, throughly annoyed.

"One, it annoys you, and two, it wastes time," Galo smirked.

"Was that your whole story?" Sylvia questioned.

"Naw, there's that one time we stole a pair of Ranger horses, but I don't need to tell you how we did that. That's just our little secret. For us to know and you... well, I guess you'll never know," Galo smiled.

"Okay, and how'd you get more Wanderers?" Vontade looked accusingly at Galo.

Galo made a defensive gesture and then said "Ask Falcão, but apparently if you know where to look it's not too hard finding people who don't exactly like the Rangers. 'They're dark sorcerers.' or 'They're inhuman.' It's mostly fear talking, but it worked."

"What about apprentices?" Vontade accused, getting to the point now.

"Uh, well you know the story there..." Galo said awkwardly, "I'd rather not bring that up right now."

"Okay, well, see you in the mor- wait it is morning. Nevermind, see you in the afternoon: I'm going to bed," Sylvia mumbled.

"Right," everybody else answered, and then went off to sleep in their respective rooms.

**A/N: I'll try to update soon! ... I hope :P**


	14. Suspicions

**A/N: Sorry, I've had really bad writer's block. I'm trying to figure out exactly where I want to take this story. Of course, I have a general idea, but I'm not too sure. Thanks for sticking with the story :)**

Chapter 14

Vontade woke up in the middle of the day and realized he hadn't eaten since yesterday's lunch. He groaned and crawled out of bed to find Galo sitting in the kitchen doing practically nothing.

"What exactly are your plans anyway? You can't stay here forever," Vontade ventured.

Galo sighed, "I suppose you're right, but I'd prefer not to go out right now."

"The Wanderer's will find you... Which brings me to this: What exactly happened when you were kicked out? I have a feeling that's what Sylvia really meant, but you were avoiding the question."

"You're right. I still don't fully trust Rangers," Galo slowly stirred his coffee.

"Do you trust me?" Vontade asked.

Galo looked up at him wearily, "I don't truly trust anyone and neither should you."

"But would you be willing to tell me what happened?"

"More story-telling? No thanks. You just need to know I decided we went a bit far with this whole Wanderers thing. We're actually hurting people! That wasn't what this group was made for. I don't want any part in it."

"I can see why," a groggy Sylvia said, "Vontade, you really need to work on your whispering skills. This is the second time since you've moved in here that I've been woken up by people talking. Of course, at least the first time it was with someone trustworty," Sylvia eyed Galo suspiciously. He just answered with a simple shrug.

"Well, I've got practice to catch up on, and you might want to think about getting in some practice also. Just a thought," Sylvia winked at Vontade, who was thoroughly confused for a few seconds, and then dismissed the thought.

"Oh, I'm gonna go also then... I guess," Vontade said, then quickly grabbed his bow, quiver, and cloak from beside the door and followed after Sylvia.

...

Halt was gathering up a bunch of old papers on the Wanderers as Sylvia and Vontade were sparring outside. It was kind of strange Galo would leave the Wanderers on his own. The fact he also left exactly as the Rangers were planning on looking for him. Halt would have to look at this case more closely later. Right now he had to make sure Vontade and Sylvia didn't hurt each other or get taken by somebody, although Halt was pretty sure that Sylvia and Vontade would be able to hold their own or at least give them a hard time.

Halt got up and went to the door and headed outside after putting the reports back in his desk.

**A/N: and after so long I have such a short chapter XD I hate writers block :(**


	15. Promise

**A/N: Yeah! Another chapter!**

Chapter 15

"Aww, come on, that's the fifth time you've beat me!" Vontade complained. There was a huge grin plastered on his face to show he was actually having fun though.

"I'm also like five years older than you," Sylvia said, winking as she slid her knives back into their sheaths.

"I think it's closer to six actually," Vontade mumbled as he got up.

"What did you say?" Sylvia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Um, never mind. It's not important," Vontade answered hastily.

"Oh, no, I'm sure everything that comes out of the smart mouth of yours is absolutely brilliant, so spit it out, what did you say?" Sylvia started sarcastically and then ended with a true tone of curiosity.

"I was just saying your more like six years older," Vontade finally said.

"Hm, not as interesting as I thought it would be, but okay," Sylvia sighed.

They both suddenly heard a rustle from the trees and turned to see Gilan seemingly appear out of the trees nonchalantly.

"Hello there Sylvia," Gilan greeted as he gracefully swung off of Blaze's back. He then turned to Vontade "And you must be Vontade. I met you when you were just a little baby. You won't remember me, but I'm the Ranger who chased after Arrettez when he kid-napped you."

Vontade's eyes widened in surprise, "No way! Somebody actually was there to chase Arrettez?"

"Yes, and I regret not being able to catch him, but I had arrived at the scene just a bit too late," Gilan admitted.

"Well... Thanks for trying... I guess?" Vontade said awkwardly.

"You know, I still know where your mother lives. I could take you to see her," Gilan told Vontade.

"I don't even know her name, she'll be just like a stranger, and how do you know she's my mother?" Vontade muttered.

"The sooner you get to know her the better," Gilan chimed, "Oh, and it's really just a hunch, but your name is Vontade correct? Also, your resemblance to her is quite remarkable as well as the fact you are about the correct age. Unless Arrettez switched you out for a look-a-like, I doubt I'm wrong. Anyway, it took me a long time to ride over here. Can I at least stay over for the night?"

"Um..." Sylvia looked around awkwardly while Vontade thought about what Gilan had just told him, "Well, there's someone else, but why don't you come in and we'll see what we can do."

"Who is it?" Gilan looked slightly confused.

"Hello there, friend," Galo suddenly said as he was leaning against the doorway.

"I doubt you're my friend," Gilan answered, his eyes glancing meaningfully at the maple leaf hanging from Galo's neck.

Suddenly the sword by Gilan's side was out and up against Galo's neck. Galo looked slightly amused, but he noticeably tensed up and drew back a little to put a bit more distance between Gilan's sword and his neck.

"Hold up a minute Gilan," Sylvia said quickly, making a gesture with her hands to emphasize the fact she wanted him to stop, "I think we can trust him."

"You should never be too sure about something like that around Wanderers," Gilan answered in an icy voice.

"Yes, I know, but I'm pretty sure we'll be fine with us three and Halt in the cabin," Sylvia retorted.

"Point taken. Fine, I'll let you go... You're Galo aren't you? Never met you before, but you fit the description," Gilan said, his voice almost immediately jumped back to his old voice; an almost seemingly happy-go-lucky nonchalance that just made you trust him.

"I think I'd actually like to see my mom now," Vontade piped up from the edge of the clearing.

"Right, of course, after I get some coffee," Gilan said as he flashed a smile in Vontade's direction, "Of course you guys wouldn't mind sparing some right?"

"Of course not Gilan. I'm pretty sure you would wreck havoc if we didn't give it to you," Sylvia rolled her eyes.

Gilan seemed to consider this for a moment then shrugged, "Possibly. Quite likely actually."

"Well come on then. Let's go get you some coffee," Sylvia giggled.

"Lead the way," Gilan made an elegant "lead the way" gesture towards the door of the cabin, which just made Sylvia laugh harder as well as cause Vontade to start his own fit of giggles.

After a few seconds Sylvia gathered herself and walked in the cabin. Vontade, Galo, and Gilan followed her in, Vontade still giggling slightly.

**A/N: I hope I did Gilan's character justice. If not, feel free to tell me :) Thanks for reading!**


	16. A Long Awaited Reunion

Chapter 16

After drinking his coffee, Gilan did indeed keep his promise and take Vontade to see his mother for the first time. At least the first time Vontade will remember. All he had ever known until he had met Sylvia and Halt were the Wanderers, and most of that time was spent with Arrettez.

"Is my mom a nice woman?" Vontade asked, turning to see Gilan.

"Of course she is. Oh, and by the way, her name is Graza, or 'Grace' in Gallic. Just thought you'd like to know. I think her name very well fits her and her personality," Gilan said, smiling.

"Oh, that's wonderful," Vontade felt really awkward. What would he say to his mom? _"Hey... I just met you... and I know you're my mother, but..." No! This is way more awkward than it should be! Calm down Vontade!_

Vontade's breathing rate was going up and he was afraid he would have some sort of panic attack.

"Hey, Vontade, are you okay?" Gilan asked, suddenly looking worried.

Vontade tried his best to calm down then answered "Yes, I'll be fine, I'm just a bit worried."

Gilan shook his head, "Don't be, I'm sure you'll love her and she'll love you."

These words were little comfort to Vontade being exactly what he was worried about, _what if she no longer cares about me?! What then?! _Vontade was starting to work himself into more of a panic now.

Finally, Gilan said, "We're here Vontade. You can stop worrying now. Trust me, it'll all be fine," Gilan gave Vontade what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

Gilan strode up to the door and knocked on it loudly. A women in her mid thirties or so answered the door. She had blond hair and green eyes, a bright smile and was quite pretty. She wore a simple blue dress and looked quite thin; like she hadn't been eating too well... Ever.

"Oh, hello there Gilan, please come in," the women gave a small smile and ushered both Vontade and Gilan in. She wasn't sure who the boy was, but he reminded her vaguely of someone, perhaps her husband, "Would you like a drink?" she added.

"No, I'm fine, but... How do I say this? This is your son, Vontade," Gilan said this in a nonchalant way as though this was an everyday thing; _"Oh, hi, it's nice to see you again, too. Oh, and by the way this is the son you lost ten or so years ago."_

Graza, Vontade's mom, looked at Gilan in shock for a few moments, and then blinked in confusion before finally understanding.

"Vontade?" she asked, suddenly a slight Gallican accent coming out in her usually mostly smooth Araluen.

Before Vontade could quite figure out what had just happened, Graza was suddenly hugging him and saying Gallican words rapidly that Vontade, for the life of him, could not understand. She seemed worried, happy, sad, and inquiring all at the same time and Vontade was starting to get overwhelmed and confused. After a while though Vontade hugged her back and she finally let go of him.

Graza held Vontade at arms length and looked him over, then said, with an interesting mix of Gallican and Araluen, "I'm sorry about that, but I'm..." she looked like she was about to break into tears and Vontade was panicking. He wasn't quite sure what was happening, but his brain was going at hyper-speed trying to analyze everything.

Finally, Vontade decided to whisper, "It'll all be alright mom, everything will finally be fine."

**A/N: I'm debating whether or not to end Clash and start a different part of WA... I'm thinking on it. I'm leaning towards yes because WA: C has covered everything I wanted to, and... Yeah :) Hey, I could do a lot worse and end the story right here, but I won't. Keep an eye out for the next installment of WA!**


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